Tour de France with Broken Back – O’Grady credits Chiropractic

Professional cyclist, Stuart O'Grady had some nice things to say about the chiropractic care he received during the 2006 Tour de France. Nowadays, it's rare for a top professional athlete not to be receiving chiropractic on a regular basis. A big thanks to all those doctors out there that are working hard and helping to keep the world's top athletes in peak performance shape.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Professional cyclist, Stuart O’Grady had some nice things to say about the chiropractic care he received during the 2006 Tour de France. Nowadays, it’s rare for a top professional athlete not to be receiving chiropractic on a regular basis. A big thanks to all those doctors out there that are working hard and helping to keep the world’s top athletes in peak performance shape.

Australian Tour de France veteran Stuart O’Grady got himself caught up in a stage three pileup and fell off his bike during this year’s (2006) tour. Like any hard-core cyclist, he got back on his bike and finished the stage. A trip to the local hospital that evening revealed that Stuart had suffered a hairline fracture in his fourth lumbar vertebrae. With a spinal fracture, doctors felt it would be doubtful he would return to the race. But O’Grady did return, and he helped his team to win two stages and finished his 10th Tour de France.

Reporter Neal Rogers of velonews.com asked O’Grady what it was like to continue the world’s toughest cycling race with a broken back. O’Grady replied, “it’s been hell.” He went on to say… “it’s a small miracle that I made it through the race. I’ve had so much chiropractic work done, morning and night, whenever possible. Without those guys I definitely wouldn’t have seen the 10th stage, let alone Paris.”

O’Grady has participated in the Tour de France since 1998, and he has contended for the prestigious sprinters’ maillot vert (green jersey) on several occasions, finishing second in the 1998 and 2005 edition of the race. He has also worn the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) of the race leader in the 1998 and 2001 edition of the Tour. He currently rides for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour road racing series and is contracted to them through to 2008.

Thanks to Dr. Steve Visentin of Care Chiropractic located in Denver, Colorado for mailing us content for use in this article. Visit Wikipedia for more information on pro cyclist Stuart O’Grady